HYDERABAD: Indicating that the Speaker might consider disqualifying MLAs based on their conduct, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Wednesday pointed out that the Speaker has the discretionary authority to make such decisions, even without a formal complaint.
The CM cited the disqualification of Komatireddy Venkat Reddy and SA Sampath Kumar in 2018 as an example.
Asked about the accusations that he had insulted women legislators, the CM recalled that two election-related cases had been filed against him in Narsapur and Kodipalli police stations during the 2018 Assembly elections, in which he campaigned for Sunitha Laxma Reddy.
“I did not take names of any members. I referred to the legislators as ‘akka’ (elder sister) and did not use any unparliamentary words. I only shared my political experiences,” he said.
Revanth questioned the absence of BRS leaders K Chandrasekhar Rao and T Harish Rao from the Assembly, and said that their absence implied the accusations were unfounded. “Doesn’t their absence indicate that it was a drama?” he said.
Asked about the allegations that BRS MLAs were allocated insufficient time, Revanth said that KT Rama Rao, Harish Rao and G Jagadish Reddy were allotted 2 hours 11 minutes, 2 hours 35 minutes, and 1 hour 10 minutes respectively.